Surf perch

ABSTRACT

A surf perch may be configured to receive a surfboard and permits a user to insert a surfboard therein, allowing him or her to sit/float in an anchored position in the water while he or she awaits a satisfactory wave. The perch may include an octagonal hole disposed vertically therethrough, which creates a mooring system and controls the angle of the anchor line relative to that of the surf perch. Additionally, the surf perch may also include a backrest assembly, with a backrest being capable to rotate upward. Also, the surf perch may be equipped with leg protection chaps surrounding the portion of the user&#39;s legs that hang into the water.

FIELD

The present application relates to a floatation device, which can be andis adapted to be anchored in a body of water, and is adapted to receivea surfboard on top of the device and to permit a person to sit or lay onthe surfboard while on top of the device, so as to form an anchored“surf” perch for a person in the water, awaiting for an appropriate waveon which to surf.

BACKGROUND

A floating device may be a surfboard, a floating bed, a boat, or afloatable seat. Several U.S. patents relating to these floating deviceshave been issued. For example, Lukanovich, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,799,provides a conversion kit that transforms a surfboard into a kayak. U.S.Pat. No. 6,918,347 to Lu discloses a variable, aquatic floating kitcombining a seat for sitting or reclining U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,084 toBisch describes a flotation device comprising a buoyant body with seatsuspended from opening in the buoyant body, allowing a person to sit inthe opening. Boddy, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,925, discloses a rigid orsemi-rigid chair-like flotation device suitable for whitewater use. U.S.Pat. No. 6,257,944 to Herod describes a paddle board providing variousriding positions.

Williams describes, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,278, a portable, floatingseat comprising an inflatable tube with a joining means at each end ofthe tubing for temporarily uniting the discontinuous ends of the tubingand an oversized seat structure attaches directly to the bottom insideof the tubing opposite the position where the discontinuous ends aretemporarily joined to permit the user's legs to pass therethrough intothe water. Lundberg, in U.S. Design Pat. No. D465,823, provides for aflotation chair with the seating portion and back rest depending fromthe U-shaped floatation portion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,261 to RoselloZoya, now expired, discloses an auxiliary seat for surfboards. Lauziere,in U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,765, describes a flotation device including anelongated, buoyant body with outwardly extending seat disposed betweenits longitudinal ends to supports a user in either a reclined or seatedposition.

These prior devices are useful for their intended purposes, but none ofthem is suitable for providing a fixed resting place in a river, lake,or in surf, particularly the latter or in the current of a river.

SUMMARY

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to overcome oneor more of the defects of the prior art and/or to provide a perch,preferable a SURF PERCH, which permits a user to wait in comfort in thewater for a forthcoming event, such as an appropriate wave on which tosurf. Alternatively, the perch of the present invention can be used inthe pursuit of a number of other activities including swimming, diving,fishing, or any other water activity, as a waiting station.

According to an embodiment of the present application, a surf perch mayinclude a main body, having a streamline shape symmetric to a centerlineof the main body; two backrest supports; and a backrest.

The main body may include a front side, a rear side, an upper side, abottom side, a left side, and a right side. The main body may alsoinclude a deck section, a first hole in the middle portion of the mainbody; a second hole in a front portion of the main body; and a thirdhole in the rear side therethrough. The deck section may be configuredto accommodate a surfboard and being downwardly slanted from the frontside to the rear side. The first, second, and third holes may be alongthe centerline of the main body. The first hole may be polygonal orstar-shaped and it goes through from top to bottom. For example, thefirst hole may be octagonal.

The surf perch may also include a pair of chaps attached on the upperside of the main body, wherein the chaps may have two leggingsrespectively hanging down from the left and right side of the main bodyand each of the chaps may include a footrest at its end.

The main body may further include two backrest support slots positionedsymmetrical to the centerline of the main body, leaving a space with afirst width W0 wider than a width of the deck section. The at least twobackrest slots may be rectangular and are close to the rear side of themain body.

The two backrest support may include an upper portion; a tenon; and astop surface dividing the upper portion and the tenon, wherein the tenonmay have a dimension matches that of one of the backrest slot to beinserted in one of the backrest slot, so that the stop surface maycontact the upper side of the main body and the backrest support may beperpendicular to the upper side of the main body.

The upper portion may include a front side, a rear side, and at leastone angle adjustment slot. The rear side of the upper portion may be astraight line and the front side of the upper portion may be a curvedline or a straight line non-parallel to the rear side of the upperportion. The at least adjustment slot may extend from the rear side ofthe upper portion downwardly towards the front side of the upperportion.

The backrest may include a rectangular main portion, having an upperedge, a lower edge, and two side edges with a second width W1. Two upperprotrusions may respectively extend from the two side edges to a thirdwidth W2 along the upper edge, and two lower protrusions mayrespectively extend from the two side edges to the third width W2 alongthe lower edge, wherein W1<W0<W2.

The above objects of the present invention will become more apparentfrom the following detailed description of one or more embodiments ofthe present invention taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrates a top and a side view of a surf perch,respectively, according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2A-2B illustrates a method of anchoring the surf perch.

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate a side view and a top view of the surf perchincluding a pair of chaps, respectively, according to the embodiment ofthe present application.

FIG. 3C illustrates how a person sits on the surf perch.

FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate the top and side views of the surf perchincluding a backrest assembly, according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4C illustrates the top view of the main body of the surf perch,including two backrest support slots.

FIG. 5 shows a backrest support of the surf perch, according to theembodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a backrest of the surf perch, according to the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described more fullywith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the embodimentsare shown. The present invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as being limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, the embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the concept of the invention to one skilled in the art. In thedrawings, the dimensions and regions are exaggerated for clarity. Likereference numerals in the drawings denote like elements, and thus, theirdescription will not be repeated.

Accordingly, while embodiments of the invention are capable of variousmodifications and alternative forms, only the embodiments thereof areshown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described indetail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent tolimit embodiments of the invention to the particular forms disclosed,but on the contrary, embodiments of the invention are to cover allmodifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope ofthe invention.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. maybe used herein to describe various elements, these elements should notbe limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish oneelement from another. For example, a first element could be termed asecond element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a firstelement, without departing from the scope of embodiments of the presentinvention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and allcombinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Other words used to describe therelationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion(e.g., “on” versus “directly on”, “between” versus “directly between”,“adjacent” versus “directly adjacent”, etc.).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of embodiments ofthe invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the”are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the contextclearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that theterms “comprises”, “comprising,”, “includes” and/or “including”, whenused herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, thefunctions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the Figs. Forexample, two Figs. shown in succession may in fact be executedsubstantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been disclosedfor illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatvarious modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in theaccompanying claims.

A surf perch in the embodiment as illustrated in the present applicationis a flotation device configured to receive a surfboard, although thesurf perch can be used in other water environments and for otherpurposes. The device permits a user to insert a surfboard therein,allowing the user to sit/float in an anchored position in the waterwhile he/she awaits a satisfactory wave. In one embodiment, the surfperch is configured to allow a person in a body of water to place orpaddle a surfboard onto the top of the device. The surf perch device maybe in a fixed or anchored position in the body of water. The surf perchis configured to permit the person to sit or lay on the surfboard out ofthe water on top of the surf perch, while the surf perch floats in thewater.

Referring to FIGS. 1A-1B, FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a side view and atop view of a surf perch 100, respectively, according to an embodimentof the present application. According to the embodiment, the surf perch100 may include a main body 16. The main body 16 may be a single pieceof object configured to be a streamlined shape or a bullet shape with afront side A, a rear side B, an upper side C, a bottom side D, a leftside L, and a right side R, wherein the bottom side D may be curved upat the front side A and each of the left and right side L and R may havetwo adjacent indentations 18. The main body 16 is designed to float inwater and may be in a fixed or anchored position. Alternatively, themain body 16 may also be configured to any other shapes suitable forsurfing on the water.

The main body 16 may be symmetric to a centerline I-I. Along thecenterline I-I there may be provided a deck section 20. The deck section20 may be downwardly slanted from the front side A to the rear side B,and the deck section 20 may be a streamline shaped or be configured toaccommodate a surfboard on the main body 16.

In the front side A of the main body 16, there may be provided a bowlinehole 10 therethrough. The bowline hole may be positioned in thecenterline I-I of the main body 16. In the rear side B of the main body16, there may be provided a stern line hole 50 therethrough. The sternline hole may be positioned in the centerline I-I of the main body 16.

In the middle portion of the main body 16, there may be provided amooring line hole 30 therethrough. The mooring line hole 30 may bepositioned in the centerline I-I and may be star-shaped or may bepolygonal. For example, the mooring line hole 30 may be an octagonalhole or may be a star-shaped hole with eight recesses. As a result, thebowline hole 10 and the mooring line hole 30 may form a anchorline-mooring hole system.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B. FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate how the anchorline-mooring hole system functions. To anchor the surf perch 100, oneend of a cable 11 (i.e., anchor line or rope) may first be tied to andgo through the bowline hole 10 (or alternatively through the stern linehole 50) from the upper side C to the bottom side D of the main body 16,and then the cable 11 may go under the main body 16 and brought back tothe upper side C of the main body through the mooring line hole 30, andthen secured by going around any suitable objects of the main body 16(e.g., go through the indentations 18 of the main body 16), and then goback down to the lower side D of the main body 16 through the mooringhole 30, and then the cable 11 may be fixed to a deck or anchored in thewater. With the cable 11 secured through the mooring line hole 30, thesurf perch can rotate to any angle with respect to the direction of thecable line 11. The cable 11 may have a knot 12 bigger than the bowlinehole 10 on the other end to prevent the cable 11 slip though the bowlinehole 10. Because the mooring line hole 30 is polygonal or star-shaped,which has recesses along the peripheral thereof, the cable may rest inone of the recesses when passing through the mooring line hole 30.Therefore, the anchor line may have a fixed angle relative to that ofthe surf perch 100, i.e., the surf perch may stay at the same positionwith a fixed orientation in the water.

Referring to FIGS. 3A-3C, the surf perch 100 may also include a pair ofchaps 90 so that the user can sit on top of a surfboard on the surfperch 100 and have his/her legs hanging down into the water. The chapsare protection fabric designed to protect the user's legs hanging in thewater. According to FIGS. 3A and 3B, which are the top view and sideview of the surf perch 100 having the pair of chaps 90 thereon, thechaps 90, or the “Shark Flaps”, may be attached on the upper side C ofthe main body 16 with two leggings 92 respectively hanging down from theleft and right side L and R of the main body 16, where a user would hanghis/her legs into the water. The leggings 92 may be analog to that ofcowboy chaps, but protecting the user's legs in the reverse side, i.e.,instead of protecting the top of the legs, the leggings 92 may protectthe bottom of the legs when the user rides on the surf perch 100. Eachlegging 92 may include a footrest 94 at the end, so that a user ridingon the surf perch 100 may secure his/her legs in the footrest 94, asillustrate in FIG. 3C.

Referring to FIGS. 4A-4C, the main body preferably also includes abackrest assembly. FIGS. 4A and 4B respectively illustrate the top viewand side view of the surf perch 100 with the backrest assembly 26. Asshown in FIG. 4A, the backrest 26 may include one backrest 60 and twobackrest supports 70 erected on the main body 16. Accordingly, the mainbody 16 may further include two backrest support slots 40 positionedsymmetrical to the centerline I-I, as shown in FIG. 4C.

FIG. 4C is the top view of the main body 16 with the two backrestsupport slots 40. According to FIG. 4C, the backrest support slots 40may be arranged close to the rear side B of the main body 16. It may berectangular holes through the main body 16 or any other shapes suitablefor a backrest support 70. The width W0 in FIG. 4C denotes a width ofthe space between the two backrest support slots 40. The width W0 may begreater than a width of the deck section 20.

Referring to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 shows the backrest support 70 according tothe embodiment of the present application. According to FIG. 5, thebackrest support 70 may include a tenon 72, an upper portion 74, and astop surface S that divides the tenon 72 from the upper portion 74.

To assemble with the main body 16, two backrest support 70 may be neededcorresponding to the two backrest support slots 40. The tenon 72 may beconfigured to have a same shape as, but with a slightly smallerdimension than, that of the backrest support slots 40, so that thecorresponding tenons 72 may be inserted into the backrest support slots40, respectively. After assembly, the stop surface S may contact theupper side A of the main body 16, and each of the backrest supports 70may be perpendicular to the main body 16.

The upper portion 74 may includes a front side F and a rear side R. Thefront side F may be a curved line and the rear side R may be a straightline. Alternatively, the front side F may also be a straight linenon-parallel to the rear side R.

A plurality of adjustment slots 80 may be formed from the rear side Rtowards the front side F. For example, three adjustment slots 80 a, 80b, 80 c may be formed in the upper portion 74. They may start from therear side R and extend downwardly towards, but do not reach, the frontside F, and may be parallel to each other, so that the adjustment slot80 a may be higher than the adjustment slot 80 b, and the adjustmentslot 80 h may be higher than the adjustment slot 80 c.

Referring to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows a backrest 60 according to theembodiment of the present application. The backrest 60 may be an Hshape, i.e., the backrest 60 may include a rectangular main portion 66and four protrusions respectively extended from the four corners of therectangular main portion 66. The main portion 66 may have an upper edge,a lower edge, and two side edges. A width between the two side edges maybe W1. Two identical upper protrusions 62 may respectively extend fromthe side edges along the upper edge, and two identical lower protrusions64 may respectively extend from the side edge along the lower edge. Theupper and lower protrusions 62 and 64 may extend to a width W2.

Referring back to FIGS. 4A and 4B, where the backrest 60 is assembledbetween the backrest supports 70. As shown in these figures, the widthW1 may be smaller than the width W0, and the width W2 may be greaterthan the width W0. Further, a cross-section of the upper protrusions 62may be configured to be able to sit in the adjustment slots 80, so thatwhen assembled, the upper protrusions 62 may sit in the correspondingadjustment slots 80 and the lower protrusions 64 may lean on the frontside F of the backrest supports 70. Because the adjustment slots 80 doesnot reach the front side F, the upper protrusions 62 may stay in theslots and the backrest 60 may naturally form a reclining angle α withrespect to the upper side C of the main body 16. Also because the frontside F is not parallel to the rear side R, the corresponding recliningangle α may differ when the upper protrusions 62 sit in differentadjustment slots 80 a, 80 b, or 80 c. Accordingly, the main portion 66may serve as a backrest to allow a user sitting on the surf perch 100and recline against the backrest, and the height and reclining angle αof the backrest may be adjusted by putting the upper protrusions 62 indifferent adjustment slots 80 a, 80 b, or 80 c.

Because the upper protrusions 62 sit in the adjustment slots 80 and thelower protrusions 64 are free from constraint above the front side F,the backrest 60 may be rotated upward to leave the space SP between thelower protrusions 64 and the deck section 20 open for the user to placea surfboard from the water on top of the surf perch. Thus, in oneembodiment, the user who is laying on the surfboard in the water(positioned behind the surf perch) may paddle the surfboard up onto therear end B of the surf perch and under the bottom of the backrest as thebackrest rotates upward so the person on the surfboard passes underneathand moves on top of the surf perch, finally reaching a sitting position.In other words, the user paddles under the bottom of the backrest as itrotates up, and the user moves on top of the surf perch. This may allowthe user to lay prone on the main body 16 to extend his/her feet intothe water from the rear side B thereof to paddle. When the user wants toswitch from the prone position to sit on the surf perch 100, he/she maycrawl from the rear side B towards the front side A, let the backrest 60swing down into a position where the user can sit up and recline againstthe backrest 60.

In one embodiment, the surf perch can be operated and used without thebackrest assembly mounted on the surf perch, in which case, the userlays or sits on the surfboard on top of the surf perch without a backsupport to recline on.

In another embodiment, the back rest assembly is configured to comeapart when it is hit by large waves. One or more holes 110 can be placedin each piece of the best rest to tie each piece to the surf perch, sothey are not lost, if they are knocked off the perch by a wave.

According to the embodiments of the present application, the surf perch100 may allow a user to ride on it to wait for a wave. When the wavecomes, the user may be able to slide off the surf perch 100 with thesurfboard to catch and surf on the wave. Once the wave ride has ended,the user may return to the surf perch 100 to wait for the next waive. Tothis end, the anchor line-mooring hole system may ensure the surf perch100 remaining in the same anchored place and orientation in the water.

As set forth above, the embodiments of the present application mayinclude a surf perch having a main body with a backrest assemblythereon, an that a user may sit on the surf perch to wait for a wave.The embodiment may also include an anchor line-mooring hole system toensure the surf perch remain in the same anchored place and orientationin the water.

Although the embodiments have been particular shown and described withreferences to FIGS. 1-6, it will be understood by one of ordinary skillin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, asdefined by the following claims.

1. A surf perch comprising: a main body having a streamline shapesymmetric to a centerline thereof and comprising a front side, a rearside, an upper side, a bottom side, a left side, and a right side; afirst hole in a middle portion of the main body therethrough, whereinthe first hole is polygonal or star-shaped.
 2. The surf perch of claim1, wherein the main body further comprises: a deck section configured toaccommodate a surfboard and that is downwardly slanted from the frontside to the rear side of the main body.
 3. The surf perch of claim 1,wherein the main body further comprises: a second hole in a front sideof the main body; and a third hole in a rear side of the main body,wherein the first, second, and third holes are along the centerline ofthe main body.
 4. The surf perch of claim 3, wherein the main bodyfurther comprise two adjacent indentations on each of the left side andthe right side, and the first hole is octagonal.
 5. The surf perch ofclaim 1, further comprising: a pair of chaps attached on the upper sideof the main body, wherein the pair of chaps has two leggingsrespectively hanging down from the left and right side of the main body.6. The surf perch of claim 5, wherein each legging comprises a footrestat its end.
 7. The surf perch of claim 1, further comprising: at leastone backrest support attached to the main body; and a backrest assembledon the backrest support,
 8. The surf perch of claim 7, wherein the mainbody further comprises: at least two backrest support slots positionedsymmetrical to the centerline of the main body, leaving a space with afirst width W0 that is wider than a width of the deck section.
 9. Thesurf perch of claim 8, wherein the at least two backrest slots arerectangular and are close to the rear side of the main body.
 10. Thesurf perch of claim 9, wherein the at least one backrest supportcomprises: an upper portion; a tenon; and a stop surface dividing theupper portion and the tenon, wherein the tenon has a dimension matchingthat of one of said at least two backrest slots and is to be insertedsaid one of said at least two backrest slots, so that the stop surfacecontacts the upper side of the main body and the backrest support isperpendicular to the upper side of the main body.
 11. The surf perch ofclaim 10, wherein the upper portion comprises: a front side and a rearside; at least one angle adjustment slot, extending from the rear sideof the upper portion downwardly towards the front side of the upperportion.
 12. The surf perch of claim 11, wherein the rear side of theupper portion is a straight line and the front side of the upper portionis a curved line or a straight line non-parallel to the rear side of theupper portion.
 13. The surf perch of claim 11, wherein the backrestcomprises: a rectangular main portion, having an upper edge, a loweredge, and two side edges with a second width W1; two upper protrusionsrespectively extending from the two side edges to a third width W2 alongthe upper edge; and two lower protrusions respectively extending fromthe two side edges to the third width W2 along the lower edge, whereinW1<W0<W2.
 14. The surf perch of claim 7, wherein the at least onebackrest support and the backrest contain one or more holes for tyingeach to the surf perch when they are hit and knocked off the surf perchby a large wave.
 15. The surf perch of claim 1, further comprising: Ananchor tether connected at a first end thereof to the body, and passingdownwardly through the first hole; and an anchor connected to the tetherat a second end thereof.
 16. A surf perch comprising a main body adaptedto and capable of floating on the surface of water; the main body havinga front end and a rear end, and an upper surface which slopes downwardlyfrom said front end to said rear end; a first hole located approximatelyat a middle portion of the main body and extending therethrough, thefirst hole having a series of alternating indentations and inwardlyprojecting ribs extending at least partly about the first hole; a tetherconnected at a first end thereof to the main body, and extendingdownwardly through the hole; an anchor connected to the tether at asecond end of the tether; a pair of backrest supports extending upwardlyfrom the main body near the rear end thereof, the back rest supportsbeing positioned symmetrical to a center line of the main body with aspace therebetween sufficient to permit the passage there through of aperson; and a backrest rotatably supported adjacent upper ends of theback rest supports, whereby the backrest is capable of swinging upwardlyby a person entering the surf perch from the rear between the backrestsupports.
 17. The surf perch of claim 16, further comprising a pair ofchaps attached on the upper side of the main body, wherein the pair ofchaps has two leggings respectively hanging down from left and rightsides of the main body.